CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] This disclosure relates to fluorescence microscopy and, in particular, to fluorescence
microscopy instruments with camera systems.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Multi-camera fluorescence microscopy provides a dedicated camera for each fluorescent
emission channel allowing for improved speed and optical optimization. However, splitting
the fluorescent emission channels into different optical paths and directing each
emission channel to a separate camera often results in asymmetric and complicated
optical systems. Consider for example a typical microscope with three cameras located
on three different sides of the microscope. Light composed of three emission channels
emitted from three different fluorescently labeled components of a specimen is collected
by an objective lens. The light exits the objective lens and is split by the microscope
optical system into three separate beams. Each beam is composed of light of one of
the emission channels that travels along a separate optical path to one of the three
cameras.
[0004] However, because the cameras are located on different sides of the microscope, the
camera cables and tubes used to transport coolant to the cameras project out of each
side of the microscope that includes a camera. As a result, the footprint of the microscope
can be large, which may be a problem when attempting to install the microscope in
a limited lab space. In addition, the camera layout is asymmetric and irregular cabling
and tube projections can substantially diminish the overall aesthetics of the microscope.
For these reasons, engineers, scientists, and microscope manufacturers continue to
seek microscopes with layouts that reduce the overall footprint of the microscope
and are more aesthetically pleasing.
SUMMARY
[0006] Microscopy instruments with detectors located on one side of the instruments are
disclosed. In one aspect, a microscopy instrument includes a splitting system and
an array of detectors disposed on one side of the instrument. A beam composed of two
or more separate emission channels travels along an emission path to the splitting
system. The splitting system separates the emissions channels so that each emission
channel travels along a separate path to one of the detectors in the array of detectors.
The two or more paths travelled by the separate emission channels are substantially
parallel so that each channel is received by a different detector in the array of
detectors.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007]
Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an example microscopy instrument.
Figures 2A-2D show four examples of detection systems associated with four microscopy
instruments.
Figure 3A shows an example implementation of a splitting system of the detection system
shown in Figure 2D.
Figure 3B shows an example of a schematic implementation of a back plate with four
detector mounts.
Figure 4 shows example transmittance and reflectance plots associated with optical
filters of a splitting system.
Figure 5 shows an example of a splitting system in operation.
Figure 6 shows an example of a splitting system with two interchangeable sets of optical
filters.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0008] Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an example microscopy instrument 100.
The instrument 100 includes an objective lens 102, a polychroic mirror 104, an excitation
filter 106, a light source 108, an emission filter 110, a tube lens 112, a splitting
system 114, and a planar array of detectors 116. The light source 108 can be a laser
that emits a high-intensity, substantially monochromatic beam of light 118. The excitation
filter 106 and the polychroic mirror 104 transmit the beam of excitation light, which
passes through the objective 102 and an aperture in a stage 120 to a specimen disposed
on a microscope slide 122 that is supported by the stage 120. The excitation filter
106 prevents out-of-band wavelengths of light from entering the source 108. Components
of the specimen are labeled with fluorescent probes. Each type of probe is designed
to bind specifically to a particular component of the specimen, and each type of fluorophore
is bound to a particular type of probe so that when the specimen is illuminated with
the excitation light 118 the different fluorophores emit light with different wavelengths
in the visible and near-visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. As a result,
each component of the specimen is displayed with a different associated wavelength.
In the example of Figure 1, the specimen components are labeled with
N different types of fluorophores that each emits light of a different wavelength in
the visible spectrum. The wavelengths are denoted by
λi, where
i is an integer index that ranges from 1 to
N. Figure 1 includes a plot 124 of intensity versus a range of wavelengths in the visible
spectrum. Each curve of the plot 124 represents an intensity distribution over a very
narrow range of wavelengths centered about a particular wavelength. For example, curve
126 represents a narrow range of excitation wavelengths centered about a wavelength
λex1 that produces an emission of light from a first type of fluorophore, and curve 128
represents a narrow range of emission wavelengths centered about a wavelength
λem1 emitted by the first fluorophore. The
N excitation wavelengths denoted by
λexi, where
i is an integer index that ranges from 1 to
N, excite emission from the
N different types of fluorophores. Each of the
N different types of fluorophore emits a corresponding emission wavelength denoted
by
λemi. When the emission wavelengths are in the visible portion of the electromagnetic
spectrum, the components appear in an image of the specimen with different colors.
The
N excitation wavelengths are called "excitation channels," and the
N wavelengths of light emitted from the
N types of fluorophores are called "emission channels." The
N excitation channels
λexi comprise the excitation light 118.
[0009] A portion of the
N emission channels is collected and collimated by the objective lens 102 into a single
emission beam 130. The beam 130 is reflected from the polychroic mirror 104 to travel
along a central optical emission axis that runs parallel to the
z-axis of a Cartesian coordinate system 131 associated with the instrument 100. The
beam 130 passes through the emission filter 110 which blocks stray excitation light.
The tube lens 112 can represent a single lens or represent a number of lenses and
other optical elements that focus the beam 130 onto an image plane at the detectors
116 before the beam 130 enters the splitting system 114. The splitting system 114
separates the emission channels of the beam 130 so that each channel follows one of
N separate, substantially parallel paths through the emission filter(s) 110 to a detector
in the planar array of detectors 116. For example, directional arrows 132 and 134
represent substantially parallel output beams in which the output beam 132 is the
emission channel
λem1 directed to the detector 136 and the output beam 134 is the emission channel
λem2 directed to the detector 138. Each detector in the array 116 can be a photodetector
array, a CCD camera, or a CMOS camera. In an alternative embodiment, each beam can
pass through a separate excitation filter. The splitting system 114 and the planar
array of detectors 116 form a detection system of the instrument 100. The detectors
in the array 116 can have any suitable arrangement but the detectors lie in approximately
the same plane facing the splitting system 114.
[0010] Figures 2A-2D show four examples of detection systems that each represent a different
planar arrangement of the detectors. Each figure includes the objective lens 102,
the polychroic mirror 104, and the tube lens 112 described above. In the example of
Figure 2A, the detection system includes a splitting system 202 and an array of two
detectors 204. The two detectors lie along a line 206 oriented parallel to the
y-axis. The splitting system 202 receives an emission beam of light 208 composed of
two emission channels
λem1, and
λem2 and separates the two channels so that channel
λem1 is output in a beam 210 to the detector 1 and channel
λem2 is output in a beam 212 to the detector 2. The beams 210 and 212 lie in the
yz-plane and are substantially parallel to one another. In the example of Figure 2B,
the detection system includes a splitting system 214 and an array of three detectors
216. The three detectors lie in the
yz-plane. The splitting system 214 receives an emission beam of light 220 composed of
three emission channels
λem1,
λem2 and
λem3 and separates the channels so that channel
λem1 is output in a beam 222 to the detector 1, channel
λem2 is output in a beam 224 to the detector 2, and channel
λem3 is output in a beam 226 to the detector 3. The beams 222, 224, and 226 lie in the
yz-plane and are substantially parallel to one another. Note that detector 2 is placed
farther from the splitting system 214 than the detectors 1 and 3 in order for the
optical path lengths traveled by the beams 222, 224, and 226 to be approximately the
same. In other embodiments, the detectors can lie along a line oriented parallel to
the xy-plane by including mirrors in the splitting system 214 that reflect the beam
224 internally in order to increase the optical path length of the beam 224 to approximately
match the optical path length traveled by the beams 222 and 226. The detectors are
not limited to being arranged along a line parallel to the
y-direction, the linear arrays of detectors 204 and 216 can be arranged along any line
that lies in the
xy-plane. In other embodiments, the output beams and the detectors can have a two-dimensional
geometrical arrangement as represented in Figures 2C and 2D. In the example of Figure
2C, the detection system includes a splitting system 228 and an array of three detectors
230. The three detectors are arranged so that each detector is located at a vertex
of a triangle 232 oriented parallel to the xy-plane. In this example, the splitting
system 228 receives the emission beam of light 220 and separates the channels so that
channel
λem1 is output in a beam 234 to the detector 1, channel
λem2 is output in a beam 236 to the detector 2, and channel
λem3 is output in a beam 238 to the detector 3. The beams 234, 236, and 238 are substantially
parallel to one another. In the example of Figure 2D, the detection system includes
a splitting system 240 and an array of four detectors 242 arranged so that each detector
is located at a vertex of a rectangle 244 oriented parallel to the xy-plane. In this
example, the splitting system 240 receives and separates an emission beam of light
246 composed of four channels so that channel
λem1 is output in a beam 248 to the detector 1, channel
λem2 is output in a beam 250 to the detector 2, channel
λem3 is output in a beam 252 to the detector 3, and channel
λem4 is output in a beam 254 to the detector 4. The beams 248, 250, 252, and 254 are substantially
parallel to one another.
[0011] Detection systems are not intended to be limited to planar arrays of up to four detectors.
In other embodiments, detection systems can have five or more detectors in a planar
geometric arrangement. For example, five detectors can be arranged so that the detectors
are located at the vertices of a pentagon and six detectors can be arranged so that
the detectors are located at the vertices of a hexagon. In other embodiments, the
detectors can have an irregular planar arrangement and are not intended to be limited
to a planar, regular, two-dimensional geometrical arrangement.
[0012] The planar arrangement of detectors on one side or to the back of a microscopy instrument
as described above is compact, which minimizes the footprint of the instrument. With
all of the detectors located on one side or to the back of the instrument, the instrument
can be more rapidly and conveniently installed in a smaller area and all of the cables
and coolant tubes used to operate the detectors protrude from one side of the instrument
rather than the cables and coolant tubes protrude from a number of different sides
of the instrument, which improves the aesthetics of the instrument. Splitting systems
can be implemented with a set of optical filters located along the emission axis of
a microscopy instrument and a second set of mirrors positioned around the set of optical
filters. Each filter is configured to reflect a particular channel to one of the mirrors
while allowing transmission of other wavelengths. Each mirror is oriented to reflect
one of the channels to a corresponding detector. The channels are reflected in substantially
parallel output beams to the detectors as described above with reference to the examples
shown in Figure 2. Figure 3A shows an example implementation of the splitting system
240 of the detection system shown in Figure 2D. The splitting system 240 includes
a set of four optical filters 1-4 arranged along an emission axis 302 that runs parallel
to the
z-axis and includes four mirrors 1-4 radially distributed around the set of filters.
[0013] In practice, the detectors of a detection system are attached to detector mounts
in a back of a microscopy instrument and the detectors and the positions of the detectors
can be varied slightly with respect to their distance from an ideal plane. Figure
3B shows an example of a schematic implementation of a back plate 304 with four detector
mounts 306-309. The mounts have rectangular planar arrangement in the
xy-plane. As a result, when the detectors 1-4 are inserted into the corresponding mounts
306-309, the detectors 1-4 are substantially planar. The four separate mounts also
allow the position of each of the detectors to be adjusted in the
xy-plane and in the
z-direction, in order to correct for refraction due to the beams passing through the
filters, chromatic aberrations and other sources of optical path length variation.
[0014] The number of detectors of a microscopy system can be scaled up or down. In other
words, a microscopy system that includes the detection system shown in Figure 3B can
be scaled down from a four detector detection system 242 to a three, two or a single
detector detection system by removing any one, two or three detectors and the corresponding
filters. Likewise, the detection system can be scaled up from a single, two or three
detector detection system by placing detectors in the detector mounts and adding the
corresponding filters to the splitting system. For example, in Figure 3B, when the
detector 4 is added to the mount 309, the corresponding filter 4 is added to the splitting
system 240 and the detection system is scaled up from a three-detector system to a
four-detector system. Alternatively, when the detector 4 is removed from the mount
309, the corresponding filter 4 is removed from the splitting system 240 and the detection
system is scaled down from a four-detector system to a three-detector system.
[0015] The filters 1-4 can be dichroic mirrors or polychroic mirrors. Each filter reflects
one of the channels to a corresponding mirror. Figure 4 shows example transmittance
and reflectance plots 401-404 that represent the reflectance and transmittance properties
associated with the filters 1-4, respectively. In each plot horizontal axes, such
as axis 406, represent wavelength; vertical axes, such as axis 408, represent transmittance
and reflectance as percentages; vertical axes, such as axis 410, represent channel
intensity; dashed curves, such as dashed curve 412, represent reflectance; and dotted
curves, such as dotted curve 414, represent transmittance. Each filter reflects one
of the emission channels while transmitting other wavelengths. In particular, the
example plots reveal that the filter 1 reflects the emission channel
λem1, the filter 2 reflects the emission channel
λem2, the filter 3 reflects the emission channel
λem3, and the filter 4 reflects the emission channel
λem4.
[0016] Figure 5 shows the example splitting system 240 illustrated in Figure 3 in operation
with the filters configured to reflect and transmit light as described with reference
to Figure 4. An emission beam 502 composed of the four channels
λem1,
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4 is collected by the objective lens 102, reflected by the polychroic mirror 104 and
collimated by the tube lens 112 before entering the splitting system 240. As the emission
beam 502 passes through the splitting system 240, filter 1 reflects the channel
λem1 toward mirror 1 and transmits channels
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4; filter 2 reflects the channel
λem2 toward mirror 2 and transmits channels
λem3, and
λem4; filter 3 reflects the channel
λem3 toward mirror 3 and transmits channel
λem4; and filter 4 reflects the channel
λem4 toward mirror 4. As shown in the example of Figure 5, the mirrors 104 are radially
distributed around the set of filters 104 and are oriented so that each channel is
reflected in an output beam that is substantially parallel to the output beams associated
with the other channels. In particular, as shown in Figure 5, the mirrors 1-4 are
oriented so that the respective channels
λem1,
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4 are each reflected along separate, radially distributed, substantially parallel output
beams to the detectors 1-4, respectively.
[0017] The optical elements of the splitting systems are arranged to preserve the orientations
of the images associated with the channels. For example, when a specimen is illuminated
with excitation light and each type of fluorescently labeled component emits light
in a different emission channel, each type of component has an associated image in
a color that corresponds to the emission channel wavelength. The splitting system
separates the different images according to the emission channel wavelengths and each
image is captured by one of the detectors. The optical elements of the splitting system
do not reorient the separate images of the components. Figure 5 also includes four
letters "J," "K," "P," and "F" that are used to represent the orientations of images
of four different types of components of a specimen that are fluorescently labeled
to emit light in the emission channels
λem1,
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4, respectively. The splitting system 240 separates the images according to the associated
emission channel wavelengths, but the orientation of each image is preserved as the
image is twice reflected and finally transmitted to a corresponding detector. For
example, the
xy-plane orientations of the images associated with the letters "J," "K," "P," and "F"
just before entering the splitting system 240 are the same as the orientations of
the letters "J," "K," "P," and "F" in the xy-plane at the detectors 1-4. in other
words, the images arrive at detectors 1-4 with the orientations of the images unchanged.
[0018] In other embodiments, a spitting system can have more than one set of filters. Each
set of filters reflects a different set of emission channels. Figure 6 shows an example
of a splitting system 602 with two sets of filters. In the example of Figure 6, each
set of filters is mounted within a chassis that enables the sets to be switched by
sliding the sets back and forth in the
y-direction. Figure 6 includes an example plot 604 of two sets of emission channels
associated with the filter sets 1 and 2. Filter set 1 is configured to reflect a first
set of channels
λem1,
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4 represented by solid-line peaks, and filter set 2 is configured to reflect a second
set of channels
λ'
em1, ,
λ'
em2,
λ'
em3. and
λ'
em4 represented by dashed-line peaks. When the filter set 1 is placed in the path of
an emission beam composed of the two sets of channels, the set 1 separates the first
set of channels
λem1,
λem2,
λem3, and
λem4 in the manner described above with reference to Figure 5. When the filter set 2 is
placed in the path of the emission beam, the set 2 separates the second set of channels
λ'
em1,
λ'
em2,
λ'em3, and
λ'
em4 in the manner described above.
[0019] The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specific nomenclature
to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosure. However, it will be apparent
to one skilled in the art that the specific details are not required in order to practice
the systems and methods described herein. The foregoing descriptions of specific examples
are presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended
to be exhaustive of or to limit this disclosure to the precise forms described. For
example, with reference to Figure 1, the locations of the excitation filter 106 and
the light source 108 can be switched with the locations of the emission filter 110,
tube lens 112, splitting system 114 and the planar array of detectors 116 and the
polychroic mirror 104 can be replaced with a polychroic mirror that reflects the excitation
beam 118 to the objective lens 102 and transmits the emission beam 130. Obviously,
many modifications and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. The
examples are shown and described in order to best explain the principles of this disclosure
and practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize
this disclosure and various examples with various modifications as are suited to the
particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of this disclosure be defined
by the following claims and their equivalents:
1. A fluorescence microscopy instrument (100) for capturing separate images of components
of a specimen, the instrument comprising:
a light source (108) configured to illuminate the specimen (122) with an excitation
beam (118) of light that excites fluorescently labeled components to emit light in
a number of different wavelength emission channels (130), each emission channel associated
with a particular component;
an objective lens (102) configured to capture and direct the emission channels into
an emission beam;
a splitting system (114) configured to receive the emission beam, separate the beam
into the emission channels, and direct the emission channels into separate, substantially
parallel paths, wherein the splitting system includes: a set of mirrors; and one or
more sets of optical filters, wherein each filter in each set is configured to reflect
one of the emission channels toward one of the mirrors, and each mirror is positioned
and oriented to reflect the emission channel into one of the separate, substantially
parallel paths; the instrument further comprising:
a planar array of detector mounts (306-309) disposed on one side of the instrument;
and
a plurality of detectors (116), wherein each detector is disposed within one of the
detector mounts to receive one of the channels;
the instrument being characterized in that the channels have equal optical path lengths,
in that the instrument comprises a tube lens (112) being arranged before the splitting system
(114) and focusing the emission beam (130) onto an image plane at the detectors (116),
and in that the detector mounts (306-309) are configured to allow the positions of the detectors
(116) to be varied with respect to their distance from an ideal plane.
2. The instrument of claim 1 further comprising a polychroic mirror configured to reflect
the emission channels to the splitting system.
3. The instrument of any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the mirrors of the splitting system
are radially distributed around the set of optical filters.
4. The instrument of any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the optical filters are dichroic
mirrors or polychroic mirrors.
5. The instrument of any one of claims 2 or 3, wherein the separate, substantially parallel
paths have a two-dimensional geometrical arrangement.
6. The instrument of any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein each detector further comprises
a photodetector array, a CCD camera, or a CMOS camera.
7. The instrument of any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein the splitting system is configured
to preserve the orientation of the images associated with the components.
1. Fluoreszenzmikroskopie-Instrument (100) zum Aufnehmen einzelner Bilder von Komponenten
einer Probe, wobei das Instrument Folgendes umfasst:
eine Lichtquelle (108), die zum Beleuchten der Probe (122) mit einem Exzitationsstrahl
(118) von Licht konfiguriert ist, das fluoreszierend markierte Komponenten anregt,
Licht in einer Anzahl verschiedener Wellenlängenemissionskanäle (130) auszustrahlen,
wobei jeder Emissionskanal einer spezifischen Komponente zugeordnet ist;
eine Objektivlinse (102), die zum Aufnehmen und Leiten der Emissionskanäle in einen
Emissionsstrahl konfiguriert ist;
ein Aufteilungssystem (114), das zum Aufnehmen des Emissionsstrahls, Trennen des Strahls
in die Emissionskanäle und Leiten der Emissionskanäle in einzelne, im Wesentlichen
parallele Wege konfiguriert ist, wobei das Aufteilungssystem Folgendes umfasst: einen
Satz Spiegel; und einen oder mehrere Sätze optischer Filter, wobei jedes Filter in
jedem Satz zum Reflektieren eines der Emissionskanäle auf einen der Spiegel konfiguriert
ist und jeder Spiegel positioniert und orientiert ist, den Emissionskanal in einen
der getrennten, im Wesentlichen parallelen Wege zu reflektieren; wobei das Instrument
weiter Folgendes umfasst:
eine planare Anordnung von Detektormontierungen (306-309), die auf einer Seite des
Instruments angeordnet sind; und
eine Vielzahl von Detektoren (116), wobei jeder Detektor innerhalb einer der Detektormontierungen
angeordnet ist, um einen der Kanäle aufzunehmen;
wobei das Instrument dadurch gekennzeichnet ist, dass die Kanäle gleiche optische Weglängen aufweisen,
dass das Instrument eine Tubuslinse (112) umfasst, die vor dem Aufteilungssystem (114)
angeordnet ist und den Emissionsstrahl (130) auf eine Bildebene an den Detektoren
(116) fokussiert,
und dass die Detektormontierungen (306-309) so konfiguriert sind, dass die Positionen
der Detektoren (116) in Bezug auf ihren Abstand zu einer idealen Ebene variiert werden
können.
2. Instrument nach Anspruch 1, weiter einen polychroitischen Spiegel umfassend, der zum
Reflektieren der Emissionskanäle zu dem Aufteilungssystem konfiguriert ist.
3. Instrument nach einem der Ansprüche 1 oder 2, wobei die Spiegel des Aufteilungssystems
radial um den Satz optischer Filter herum verteilt sind.
4. Instrument nach einem der Ansprüche 2 oder 3, wobei die optischen Filter dichroitische
Spiegel oder polychroitische Spiegel sind.
5. Instrument nach einem der Ansprüche 2 oder 3, wobei die getrennten, im Wesentlichen
parallelen Wege eine zweidimensionale geometrische Anordnung aufweisen.
6. Instrument nach einem der Ansprüche 2 bis 5, wobei jeder Detektor weiter eine Fotodetektoranordnung,
eine CCD-Kamera oder eine CMOS-Kamera umfasst.
7. Instrument nach einem der Ansprüche 2 bis 6, wobei das Aufteilungssystem zum Beibehalten
der Orientierung der den Komponenten zugeordneten Bilder konfiguriert ist.
1. Instrument de microscopie à fluorescence (100) pour capturer des images séparées de
composants d'un échantillon, l'instrument comprenant :
une source de lumière (108) configurée pour éclairer l'échantillon (122) par un faisceau
d'excitation (118) de lumière qui excite des composants marqués par fluorescence pour
émettre de la lumière dans un certain nombre de canaux d'émission de longueurs d'onde
différentes (130), chaque canal d'émission étant associé à un composant particulier
;
un objectif (102) configuré pour capturer et diriger les canaux d'émission dans un
faisceau d'émission ;
un système de séparation (114) configuré pour recevoir le faisceau d'émission, séparer
le faisceau dans les canaux d'émission et diriger les canaux d'émission dans des trajets
sensiblement parallèles séparés, dans lequel le système de séparation comprend un
jeu de miroirs ; et un ou plusieurs jeux de filtres optiques, dans lequel chaque filtre
de chaque jeu est configuré pour réfléchir l'un des canaux d'émission vers l'un des
miroirs et chaque miroir est positionné et orienté pour réfléchir le canal d'émission
dans l'un des trajets sensiblement parallèles séparés ; l'instrument comprenant en
outre :
un système planaire de montures de détecteurs (306, 309) disposées d'un côté de l'instrument
; et
une pluralité de détecteurs (116), dans lequel chaque détecteur est disposé dans l'une
des montures de détecteurs pour recevoir l'un des canaux ;
l'instrument étant caractérisé en ce que les canaux ont des longueurs de trajets optiques égales,
en ce que l'instrument comprend une lentille tubulaire (112) placée devant le système de séparation
(114) et focalisant le faisceau d'émission (130) sur un plan
d'image aux détecteurs (116),
et
en ce que les montures de détecteurs (306-309) sont configurés pour permettre de faire varier
les positions des détecteurs (116) par rapport à leur distance par rapport à un plan
idéal.
2. Instrument selon la revendication 1, comprenant en outre un miroir polychroïque configuré
pour réfléchir les canaux d'émission dans le système de séparation.
3. Instrument selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 ou 2, dans lequel les miroirs
du système de séparation sont distribués radialement autour du jeu de filtres optiques.
4. Instrument selon l'une quelconque des revendications 2 ou 3, dans lequel les filtres
optiques sont des miroirs dichroïques ou des miroirs polychroïques.
5. Instrument selon l'une quelconque des revendications 2 ou 3, dans lequel les trajets
sensiblement parallèles séparés ont un agencement géométrique bidimensionnel.
6. Instrument selon l'une quelconque des revendications 2 à 5, dans lequel chaque détecteur
comprend en outre un système de photodétecteurs, une caméra CCD ou une caméra CMOS.
7. Instrument selon l'une quelconque des revendications 2 à 6, dans lequel le système
de séparation est configuré pour préserver l'orientation des images associées aux
composants.